The business behind the show

NinjaVideo.net's founder gets prison sentence

January 6, 2012 | 7:07
pm

A founder of NinjaVideo.net, the now-defunct website that was shut down for engaging in widespread piracy of movies and TV shows, was sentenced to 22 months in prison for criminal copyright conspiracy.

U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga ordered Hana Amal Beshara, 30, of North Brunswick, N.J., to also complete 500 hours of community service, repay $209,826 that she obtained from her work at NinjaVideo.net and forfeit several financial accounts and computer equipment, according to a statement Friday from the Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Beshara and four other top administrators of NinjaVideo.net were indicted on Sept. 9, 2011. She pleaded guilty three weeks later to conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement.

Beshara, who was known as "Queen Phara" on the Internet, served as the public face of NinjaVideo.net, which operated from February 2008 until it was shut down by law enforcement in June 2010. The website allowed visitors to view for free movies that were still in theaters, or that had yet to be released, and television programs immediately after they aired, the Justice Department said.

Photo: John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, speaks about efforts to combat intellectual property theft and demand for counterfeit products at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across from the White House in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. Credit: Charles Dharapak / Associated Press